Thursday, August 30, 2012

Literate & Stylish: Moorea Seal

The premise of Literate & Stylish is simple, and the post is short but sweet- every Thursday I'll be showcasing a lovely lady and her favorite book. She'll share a few pretty photos showing off her personal style, along with her book of choice, and tell us why she loves it.

I
have always been drawn to books that have a sort of coming of age
vibe. The theme of self discovery has always played a huge role in my
own life and is one that I hope to keep at the forefront of my mind
forever. Because of this, and no matter what stage I am at in my life, I
really relate to younger characters who are going on journeys of
adventure and discovery leading to their own personal revelations and
internal growth. Rarely are the characters young girls, which I
contribute to the fact that most books just seem to focus on a young
mans internal growth and adventure rather than women which is a bummer,
plus I'm really not into girly books at all. Anyone know of a good
coming of age book that has an independent, adventurous and curious
female lead character but doesn't just fill all the stereotypes of
"girl"?

Some of my favorite books are The Alchemist
and The Catcher in the Rye but at the moment I would say Shadow of the Wind is my favorite book. It has a coming of age vibe but is written
for adults. It is set in post war Barcelona and centers around the main
character, Daniel Sempere, who is just in his early teens. What I love
about this book is that it is almost a story within a story and
revolves around the mystery and magic of books. Daniel's father, a
bookseller, one day takes Daniel to a mysterious hidden library of sorts
called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It is there that Daniel finds a
book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Because of this
book, Julian's life is suddenly becomes a dramatic and adventurous
journey filled with the pursuit of unlocking the mystery of the author
Julian Carax. Through Daniel's journey of trying to understand what
happened to Julian, he opens up hidden secrets of the people in his
community, and, as his adventure persists, he finds his own life
starting to parallel that of Julian Carax's life. Magical!

There
is adventure, murder, secrets, love, reflective and philosophical
moments, just everything I adore in a book all held within the pages of
Shadow of the Wind. I may have cried at the end because I was so sad I
had finished the book and I couldn't keep reading and traveling on the
journey with Daniel. But good news... when I told my boyfriend I was so
bummed out that I had finished the book, he informed me that there is a
second book by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. And in his second book The Angel's Game, the character of Daniel still plays a minor part in the story. It
has a different main character than Shadow of the Wind but is set in
the same city, just a few years before the setting in Shadow of the
Wind. The Angel's Game is actually a prequel to Shadow of the Wind, and
Zafon said that there will be 4 books in this series which I am SO
excited about. I just discovered that the third book, The Prisoner of
Heaven, was just translated into English a month ago! You can bet I
will be buying it as soon as I am done with The Angel's Game. If you
have read a few of J. D. Salinger's books and love how they revolve
around one family but written from different perspectives within the
Glass family, I think you will love Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's
Game. They are mesmerizing stories that speak of the same place and
it's hidden secrets from the perspective of two enchanting characters.
Read these books!

Gorgeous photos. I've never heard of this book, and I also have never read The Catcher in the Rye (my husband did last year and told me about it though). Excellent. There is really something nice with coming of age stories though.+Victoria+

I read the french translation of this book about a year and a half ago and absolutely loved it.... but its been gathering dust in my bookcase since then. I think I`ll read it again before looking for the other books by the same author!! Thanks for sharing and giving me inspiration for my next reads!!

Oh and I love series that revolve around the same family with each book narrated by different people. One of my favourites is Michel Tremblay, French Canadian playright and novelist. I really really recomend him! The chroniques du plateau mont-royal series is especially beautiful and all are translated into english: The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant, Therese and Pierrette and the Little Hanging Angel, The Duchess and the Commoner, News from Édouard, The First Quarter of the Moon, and A Thing of Beauty.